"It's very challenging to teach students when they are eating school lunches that don't give them the nutrition they need and deserve. Oftentimes what is served barely passes muster as something edible."

2010-06-09

Magician, illusionist and escape artist Henning will be a posthumous honouree. The Winnipeg-born, Ontario-raised performer, who died in 2000 just months after being diagnosed with liver cancer, was a pop-culture fixture in the 1970s for his theatrical magic shows in Canada and the U.S.

2010-06-08

The end of the school year is approaching and it's time to start thinking about gift giving for your child's teacher or caregiver.

Moxie has some greatposts with terrific comments about gift giving to teachers. Some of my favourite points include:

"If you really want to buy a gift, please please please no cheese balls and teacher mugs or tchochkes or ornaments. The most appreciated gifts I ever got were books, office supplies, or gift cards to Borders and Staples."

"The greatest gift your child can give is a handwritten letter -- something like, 'Ms. Maura, this is my favorite class. I really loved the project we did on X. I'm always going to remember you because of X. Thank you for teaching me X.'

"So, the best gift is cash on the barrel, closely followed by gift cards to retailers so large and ubiquitous that they are cash equivalents. So cash it is for daycare providers. I don't know what we'll do for teachers once we hit elementary school. Gift certificates to places school supplies are found, plus other stuff, sound great."

"Both schools I worked at had policies about accepting checks/cash."

If you feel like you want to send a tangible gift along with your child's handwritten note and / or gift certificate, add a Classroom Pack from Mabel’s Labels – Labels for the stuff kids lose!® For years, teachers have been telling Mabel's Labels that they need labels for the classroom.

From Cloud:In the meantime, we'll keep using our sunscreens. I know with quite a bit of certainty that unprotected exposure to the sun can cause cancer- I can even explain the mechanism. These chemicals? My take is that there are some studies that indicate they may cause cancer. But there has not been a single definitive peer-reviewed study, because man, that would have been a high profile paper that I would not have missed.

From Jenna:Mexoryl or Tinosorb are the only two sunscreen ingredients that are actually effective at blocking UVA. Avobenzone (aka Parsol), the UVA blocker used in most US sunscreens, actually degrades in sunlight. Though the FDA finally approved Mexoryl a few years ago, it's still nigh impossible to find a sunscreen with Mexoryl here in the US. According to the EWG report, Tinosorb still isn't approved yet.

I buy all my sunscreen in Canada. My favorites are La Roche-Posay Anthelios or Hydraphase UV in SPF 30. (Sephora carries Hydraphase, but only SPF 15.) L'Oreal Ombrelle and Vichy are also good. FYI these are all brands you can find at an ordinary drugstore in Canada. My Vichy SPF 60 body sunblock has Mexoryl, octorcrylene, titantium dioxide, and avobenzone, all of which are on the low or moderate risk lists on the EWG site

If this concerns you, be sure to read the ingredient list on every formulation of your favourite brand. Ingredients change formulation to formulation, including but not limited to the addition of chemicals in children's formulations that are not present in the adult brand.